The Battle of Perdido Gulch
by CrazyKitten2112
Summary: There's a new sheriff in town...and he couldn't be more hopeless. How will Quinn deal with psychotic outlaws, an angry ex-sheriff, and a feisty girl who guards her heart with a pistol? Western AU. Rated T for swearing and alcohol. This is my first action story, so R&R. I obviously don't own Gone. WARNING: I went a little bit overboard with the western lingo, y'all.
1. The Battle Before The Battle

**A/N: This story is an old west AU. Everybody is still the same age, and they all have the same powers. Anybody's who's seen the new "Lone Ranger" movie should know why Penny's calling Caine kemosabe. Also, you need to give everybody a country accent when you read this. Thanks for reading! I'm sorry if I offend any hardcore fans of the western genre. Please review, check out my other Fanfics, and enjoy this one!**

Sheriff Caine Soren woke up in the middle of the night to a very peculiar sort of racket. He rolled over onto his right side, taking great care not make any noise or sudden movements. He opened his eyes and saw a shadowy figure climbing out of his window. Every move they made was followed by the clank, creak, and clatter that had to come from some sort of strange metal contraption.

_What kind of idiot bandit tries to steal from the sheriff's house? _Caine wondered to himself.

He fumbled throughout the dark house until he found a candle and some matches. When he'd gotten himself a light, the sheriff did a quick inventory check of every room in the house. He was surprised to find that absolutely nothing had been stolen. He didn't notice anything that was even slightly out of place until he got back to his bedroom.

The painting of Diana Ladris, the girl that the sheriff had once been able to call his own, was in shreds on the floor. Caine welled up with rage. He had paid top dollar for Roger, the greatest artist in all of Perdido Gulch, to paint that portrait. Caine had wanted to take it down when Diana had high-tailed it out of town because she didn't approve of the way that Caine dealt with law breakers. He hadn't had the heart to do it, though. If he couldn't see her lively smirk in real life, he could at least see it in a portrait. Well, he could've.

Caine was about to return to bed when he something on his nightstand sparkle in the warm glow of the candlelight. When he walked over to investigate it, he realized it was a shiny copper penny. When he looked down at the nearly worthless coin he could help but notice the shred of canvas under it. On one side it depicted the black lace that had trimmed Diana's dress in the portrait, but on the other side there were four little words that words that managed to fill the typically fearless sheriff's heart with terror.

_I'm gonna get you._

It was a simple threat. Caine shouldn't have been afraid. He wasn't afraid when a mysterious dome had appeared over the little mining town of Perdido Gulch about a year ago. He wasn't afraid when they discovered that all of the adults had disappeared. He wasn't afraid when his deputy, Drake Merwin, became Drake the Snake, the notorious whip-handed outlaw that lurked in the deserts that surrounded Perdido Gulch. Caine hadn't even gotten nervous when rumors started floating around that Diana, who now lived in a small lakeside town a few miles down from Perdido Gulch, was pregnant with his child.

There was only one human being who had ever scared the sheriff. She was known far and wide as Unlucky Penny. Legend has it that her family had moved from China to Perdido Gulch so they could help build the railroads. She'd learned English by playing with the local children her age. When the dome appeared over town, she'd been one of Sheriff Soren's strongest supporters. Eventually, he discovered that she wasn't as impressed with his outlaw wrangling skills as she was with his devilish good looks and charm. During this time, Caine and Diana's relationship was doing relatively well, so Penny's feelings obviously weren't returned. Fueled by jealousy and spite, Unlucky Penny attempted to use her powers of illusion to drive Diana insane. The sheriff discovered her plot and used his powers on her in revenge. By the time Caine was done with her both her legs and heart were broken beyond repair. Supposedly, she'd used her arms to drag herself into an outhouse where she attempted to recuperate. Nobody believed this rumor until one day when a boy named Cigar was found with two shiny pennies where his eyes should've been. Lana Lazar used her healing powers to save his life, but Cigar was never the same again. Caine wasn't going to let the same thing happen to him. When Penny came for him, the sheriff was going to fight back.

The sheriff doubted that Penny would come back that night, so Caine attempted to get some sleep. Unfortunately, he could sleep for more than fifteen minutes at a time without being woken by a horrific nightmare about just what Unlucky Penny had in store for him.

The next morning, Caine wandered the streets of Perdido Gulch, prepared for confrontation. Yet, hours passed by without any sign of the outlaw who'd threatened Caine the night before. Then, at high noon, Caine heard the same clank, creak, and clatter that he'd heard the night before.

She had emerged from behind the saloon on poorly crafted copper legs. She wore a tattered black dress beneath a beige leather vest. The boots on her feet perfectly matched the hat perched atop her head. She carried a pistol in her left hand, but everybody in Perdido Gulch knew that her free hand was a much deadlier weapon.

"I'm gonna give you one chance to turn around and stumble back into the desert on those fancy copper legs of yours," Caine offered.

"No thanks," Penny replied teasingly.

"I was hoping you were gonna say that," Caine replied happily.

The sheriff waved his hand and the outlaw went flying through the roof of the saloon that once belonged to Albert, who was now residing in town hall as the mayor.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you wanna get me!" Penny shouted from the roof top.

"Don't test me girl," Caine yelled raising his hands and aiming his palms at Penny.

Caine was about to send the outlaw hurtling through a storefront when his hands were suddenly engulfed in flames. Caine knew it was just an illusion, but he still frantically ran around the town searching for water. He would do anything to end the burning.

Penny cackled and then called "Bring it out, Turk!"

Caine saw a boy that he barely recognized push a large barrel of water out from a dark alleyway. The sheriff ran over to it as fast as he could and plunged his hands into it. Instantly the illusions disappeared and Caine realized that he'd been tricked. His hands weren't soaking in water, they were slowly being encased in cement.

The sheriff pulled his hands out of what would soon become a barrel full of concrete. As Caine tried to brush the wet cement off of his hands, Penny hit him with another illusion. Caine legs collapsed beneath him and felt pain like he'd never felt before.

"It hurts, don't it?" Penny called. She was sitting on the edge of the rooftop. She was swinging her copper legs, which sent a terrible creaking noise throughout the town, "Imagine feeling this way for a whole month!"

"Is that what this is about?" Caine wondered.

"I wouldn't be talking back if I were you," Penny threatened. Waving her pistol for emphasis.

"I…wouldn't be talking back...if I were you," Caine growled through his teeth. He was clenching them tightly together to keep from screaming, "I'm…gonna lock you up in the hoosegow if it's the last…thing…I…do."

"Keep dreaming, Buzzard Brains," Penny replied with an evil giggle, "I've gone through too much shit to end up rotting in jail."

"What…kind of shit?" Caine asked weakly. If he could distract Penny, she might just stop using her powers on him.

"Well, to start with I had to live in an outhouse for a couple of months. If I hadn't bribed Taylor to bring me food, I'd probably be dead by now," Penny complained.

"Well, now that would just be a crying shame," Caine interrupted sarcastically.

"Shut it, kemosabe! I'm not done talking yet!" Penny snapped, "I lived in the outhouse for a month until I got the genius idea to get these babies."

Penny started swinging her legs again, which made the same terrible scraping sound that they had made earlier.

"I had my little minion, Howard give me all the pennies he'd earned at his little whiskey still. I put the bag of pennies around my neck and drug myself down to Jack's blacksmith shop," Penny retold, "All I had to do for me to get my lovely new legs was to give him a little vision of your little girly friend, Diana. After I got my new legs, I decided to test them out by waking over to my good friend Cigar's house. He was fun. I got him to lick the bottom of my boot, and I'm gonna make you do the same, Sheriff."

Penny grabbed her right leg and pulled it up so her foot was only inches away from her face. She deeply inhaled, smelling her grubby boot.

"Hoo-wee! That's some fresh cow pie! Bet you can't wait for a taste!" Penny exclaimed.

When Penny had adjusted her leg position, she'd had to stop using her powers. The pain in Caine's legs was gone. Not only had he finished wiping the cement off of his hands, but he wasn't distracted by the phony pain in his legs anymore, either. Caine waved his hand and smashed Penny off the roof and into the ground.

Penny's body seemed fine, but her legs had crumpled beneath her. To make things worse, she landed next to a large black stallion who'd recently had to go numero dos. Caine strutted to Penny, leaned over her, and said, "Ready to give up now?"

"Not just yet, kemosabe," Penny teased.

"Actually, you're going to have to give up," Caine informed his rival, "Unless you can hop up on that there horse."

Caine chuckled as Penny tried to use her arms to climb onto the horse. At first she struggled to get a hold on the horse, but once she successfully latched onto its leg she was off. She steered the horse towards Caine, who levitated the stallion into the air. Penny slid off the horse. She landed on Caine shoulders and made him feel like there were maggots eating him from the inside out. Caine dropped the horse, which started rampaging through the town in a terror fueled single horse stampede. Caine threw Penny off of him and into a cart full of hay. Penny's pistol went off and the bullet flew into the air. Caine used his powers to make the bullet speed towards Penny. Penny ducked and used her powers to make everyone in the crowd look like her. Consumed with rage, Caine started throwing kids trying to identify the real Penny by her shriek. Perdido Gulch had gone to hell in a hand basket.

Suddenly, the bang of a shot gun got both Caine and Penny's attention.

"That's it! I've had enough!" Albert, who had been the one to shoot the gun, shouted, "I want you out of town, now!"

"Thank you!" Caine exclaimed graciously, "You don't know how much trouble this little b-"

"You too, Caine!" Albert shouted.

"Why? I was just doing my job!" Caine protested.

"Yeah, but you doing your job was causing more trouble than anything that Penny was doing today," Albert reasoned.

"But who's gonna be the new sheriff?" Caine asked.

"I don't know, Quinn! You're the sheriff now!" Albert decided.

"Yee-haw!" Quinn shouted.

"But…you can't!" Caine shouted, lifting Albert into the air.

"Actually, I can," Albert corrected, "I'm the mayor."

"Don't remind me," Caine growled. He had always wanted to be the mayor, but somebody else had always taken the position.

"Nobody actually wants either of you here," Albert lectured, "You'd both be doing the town a favor by getting out."

"You don't have to ask me, twice," Penny said, "That Drake guy is cuter than a newborn baby piglet, and I reckon that he's gotten mighty lonely out in the desert all alone."

She was mounting a buckskin horse as she spoke.

"Well, I'd rather got to hell," Caine told Albert.

"That can be arranged!" Penny shouted, grabbing Caine by the hair and pulling him up onto her horse. (Her arms had gotten mighty strong from dragging herself along so much).

When they were a few miles away from town. Penny used her powers to stop the horse. She slid off the horse and onto to desert floor. She picked up a large rock and started trying to hammer her legs back into shape.

"You're not really gonna stay away, are you?" Caine asked.

"Of course not, kemosabe," Penny answered slyly, "I'll get my revenge on that no good hellhole if it's the last thing I do."  
"Yeah, you'll definitely make them pay," Caine responded. He paused for dramatic effect, then added, "If you accept my help."


	2. A New Friend for the New Sheriff

**A/N: Just when you thought the battle was over, the cowpokes of Perdido Gulch ride again! This chapter is kind of short, but it lays down the framework for some possible Quana (Quinn/Lana) in the story. Please tell me if you'd be for or against that, since I haven't decided what kind of relationship I want them to have in this story. **

Quinn Gaither had lived in Perdido Gulch his entire life, but never in his wildest dreams did he expect that he would become its sheriff. Quinn didn't know nothing about the law, much less enforcing it. Albert had given him a copy of the town law book, but all the fancy terminology went over his head. How was Quinn supposed to maintain peace and order in a town where those words didn't even seem to be in the dictionary? When he had asked Albert for advice, all that he'd been told to do was work on his aim with his only weapon, a pistol. Even though he didn't think it would help very much, Quinn decided to shoot some targets out in the desert.

BANG!

Quinn fired his pistol, missing the cactus he was using as a target.

BANG!

His second shot wasn't much better.

BANG!

That one whizzed straight through the center of the cactus. If only it had been Quinn who had shot it.

The new sheriff, who didn't feel like a sheriff, whirled around to see the mysterious shooter who'd been able to send a bullet whizzing over his shoulder and into the center of the cactus. When he laid eyes on the gunslinger, he was shocked to find out that they were a girl. Her messy brown was covered in dust. It stuck out from underneath her battered cowboy hat and went all the way down to her vest. It hadn't been cut in a mighty long time. Instead of a dress she wore tattered pants and a white button down shirt. The only touch of femininity was dirty, hot pink scarf that she had tied around her neck like an ascot.

"Well, pluck my feathers and call me fried chicken!" Quinn exclaimed, "If it isn't the long lost healer of Perdido Gulch."

"Call me Lana," The Healer growled.

"Well, you aint' healing nobody no more, so I guess that title don't fit very well nowadays," Quinn agreed.

"That's not true," Lana corrected, "I heal anybody who can find me."

"Well nobody can find you," Quinn teased.

"Patrick can find me and that's all that really matters," Lana said before sticking two fingers into her mouth and whistling loudly.

Almost instantly, a large yellow dog came bounding over to Lana's side. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little scrap of meat, which tossed to Patrick. It bounced of his nose and landed in the sand, but he ate it anyway.

"What's that you got there?" Quinn wondered.

"Coyote balls," Lana replied.

Quinn became quite nauseous right after he learned what Patrick was eating.

"Oh, don't make that face," Lana told him, rolling her eyes, "If you shoot a coyote you gotta do something with everything. You can't just take the best parts for eatin' and then leave the rest for the buzzards."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Quinn said, still feeling mighty queasy, "So, do you just live out here in the desert?"

"No, I live on the side of that there cliff," she said, pointing at a cliff pretty far off in the distance.

"That's a long way from this here patch of desert," Quinn replied, "What brings you this far from home?"

"I heard the gun shots and thought you were Ol' Drake the Snake," Lana replied, "We can't just let him be walkin' around with loaded guns, now can we?"

"We most definitely cannot," Quinn agreed.

"Now what brings you out to the desert, partner?" Lana wondered, "Last time I checked, you were the biggest townie of them all."

"I'm practicing my aim," Quinn explained humbly.

"Now, why would you wanna do that?" Lana inquired, "You wanna keep yourself safe that crooked hearted coyote that they call a sheriff?"

"You think I'm a crooked hearted snake?" Quinn asked, pretending to be offended.

"Wait, are you telling me YOU became sheriff somehow?" Lana asked.

"Well, the old sheriff destroyed half the town in a battle with unlucky Penny. Albert ran them both out of town and made me the new sheriff. It was sort of a snap decision," Quinn told Lana.

"Let me get this straight, the only thing keeping Perdido Gulch from going crazier than a rattle snake in a bottle of whiskey is YOU?"

"Well, yes."

"And you don't have any powers?"

"Nope."

"And you can't even shoot a gun?"

"Apparently not."

"That's it, the whole town's screwed."

"It is, isn't it?" Quinn wondered.

"Well, it would be," Lana decided, "If I wasn't going to help you out."

"What do you know about being a sheriff?"

"Not much," Lana admitted, "But I know how to shoot."


	3. Beginner's Luck

BANG!

A bullet whizzed straight through the center of a cactus.

"I did it!" Quinn cheered, "I finally did it! After a whole day of trying, I did it! I shot that bullet right through the middle of that there cactus! Yeeeeee-haw!"

"Keep your voice down," Lana hissed, "This desert is full of outlaws."

"Do you mean little old me?" Unlucky Penny wondered from behind a very large rock.

"Don't come any closer! I have a gun!" Quinn threatened, trying to hide his fear.

"Well my new friend has levitation," Penny announced as she rose over the top of the boulder.

This had to be one of her illusions. Caine had always been a bad apple, but he wasn't rotten to the core. Was he?

"Lana, do you see that too?" Quinn asked.

"I really wish that I didn't," Lana responded.

Quinn knew he couldn't deny it. Angry, volatile, and powerful Caine had officially crossed over to the wrong side of the law. Quinn couldn't say that he was surprised. Caine had always been a corrupt sheriff, secretly committing crimes with help from his sadistic deputy and that wench, Diana. As sheriff, he could frame anyone who got on his nerves for committing the crimes that he and his accomplices had been able to pull off. Caine, Drake, and Diana lived in luxury while the rest of the town was barely scraping by. The worst part was, everyone knew exactly what was going on. Most people were just too afraid to do anything about it, and those that weren't got thrown in the hoosegow. Quinn didn't want to think about what Caine would do to Perdido Gulch now that he had proclaimed himself an outlaw.

"Hey, Lana," Quinn whispered.

"What?" Lana wondered gruffly, but just as soft.

"How many bullets do you have in that pack?" Quinn wondered, looking down at the large, black leather bag she had slung over her shoulder.

"Round 15 left," Lana guessed, still whispering, "Why you wanna know?"

"Cause you might just need a lot of bullets, little lady," Quinn responded quietly. He discreetly passed her his gun.

"If you call me "little lady" again we're gonna be down to fourteen bullets," Lana growled.

"Sorry, Lana," Quinn apologized, "Now, when I tell you to shoot, just go for it. Don't ask any questions just shoot."

"What are you two stank worms whispering bout down there?" Penny wondered from her position above them.

"I don't think that the EX-sheriff would want to hear," Quinn teased.

"I think that I can handle anything a yellow belly like you says about me," Caine replied from behind the rock.

"Who are you to call me a yellow belly?" Quinn challenged, "You're the one hiding behind a rock!"

"I'm not hiding, I was just trying to sneak up on you," Caine corrected, stepping out from behind the boulder.

"Now Lana!" Quinn shouted.

"At Caine?" Lana wondered as she loaded the gun.

Quinn nodded, while Caine just smirked. Lana fired the gun, and Caine deflected the bullet with his powers. Penny fell from the sky and Quinn ran over to catch her.

"Keep firing!" Quinn shouted to Lana.

As Lana and Caine kept shooting and deflecting, Quinn moseyed his way over to Unlucky Penny. Even though it looked like she had tried to repair them somehow, Penny's crumpled copper legs were still about as useful as a big wooly blanket in the middle of summer. If only Quinn could get close to Penny without her using her powers on him.

Just when he was thinking up a plan, Penny started scrabbling towards Quinn…on her hands! Penny had made herself a sitting duck in an attempt to attack the new sheriff. Even though it was usually the other way around, sometimes a good offense was the worst defense. When Penny got close enough Quinn grabbed the outlaw's hands and held them together.

He looked over at Lana, who was still locked in an intense battle with Caine. Quinn felt bad about leaving her behind, but he knew she could handle herself. Also, if Lana didn't keep him distracted, Caine could easily free Penny from Quinn's grasp...or worse.

It took until sundown for Quinn to drag Penny back to Perdido Gulch. When he got there, there weren't very many people on the streets. The ones who were looked shocked at the sight of Unlucky Penny kicking and screaming as the new sheriff dragged her along. Quinn could hear kids murmuring all sorts of things. Some people were scared, others happy, but most were just shocked. Quinn didn't stop to talk to anybody, he just kept on walking until he got to the hoosegow.

"I found this little varmint in the desert," Quinn told Charles, Perdido Beach's stone covered warden, "Lock her up."

Quinn pushed Penny towards Charles. He carried her like a football, and tossed her into one of the open cells. Quinn stayed to make sure that she was locked up tight, since Charles had a little bit of a drinking problem. After he was sure that Penny wouldn't be getting out of the hoosegow anytime soon, Quinn made his way down to the town hall.

"Howdy," Quinn awkwardly greeted Albert as he walked into his office.

"Why are you bothering me, Quinn?" Albert wondered.

"Well, I was out in the desert working on my aim when The Healer came up and offered to help me learn to shoot," Quinn told the mayor.

"Is that where you've been all day?" Albert wondered, "There was a couple of people whining about that instead of doing their jobs."

"Hold your horses, I'm not done yet," Quinn replied, "So, Lana was helping me out with my aim and Caine and Unlucky Penny came out. I managed to capture Penny, but Lana's still out fighting Caine."

"Let me get this straight," Albert replied, "Not only did you survive, no, win a battle with Caine and Unlucky Penny, two of the most powerful people in Perdido Gulch, but you also found the long lost Healer?"

"Yup," Quinn replied.

"When will she be coming back to Perdido Beach?" Albert wondered.

Quinn panicked. Lana never said she'd be coming back, but Quinn didn't want to disappoint the town. He knew that telling the truth would be the right thing, but for the first time in his entire life Quinn was popular. He was going to do whatever it took to stay that way.


	4. Knocked Out Cold

**A/N: I hate to beg for reviews, but you guys pretty much have me on my knees! I don't care what say, but if you didn't like it give me some CC instead of just flaming it, OK? I really want to what you think, since I'm not really a huge fan of Quinn or Lana. Do you think they're both in character? Now, on with the show…**

When the Healer had finally fired her last bullet, Caine levitated her pistol out of her hands. She turned to leave, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand.

"Hey!" Lana exclaimed angrily as she was pulled across the sand and towards Caine, "Why you gotta do this!?"

"You're gonna make the perfect hostage," Caine replied, "First of all, nobody wants to get a scratch on the precious healer. Secondly, that sham of a sheriff seems to think your mighty purdy."

Caine grinned victoriously as he set off towards the cliffs. Lana struggled, spat, and kicked as Caine dragged her along behind him with his powers. Patrick followed her dopily.

"Go, Patrick!" Lana shouted, "Go back to town and get help, or something!"

Patrick keep following her into to the desert, tail wagging and tongue lolling out like nothing was wrong.

"Go! Patrick! Go!" Lana screamed, then deciding Patrick was useless in this situation she started to scream.

"Shut up!" Caine ordered.

Lana just screamed louder.

"I told you to shut up!" Caine shouted, levitating her at least 20 feet into the air. Now that she'd been given reason to, Lana did as he asked. Lana wasn't an idiot, she knew that Caine would kill her without a second thought.

When Caine got back to the cliffs, he was surprised to find a small camp with some cooking utensils, a large pot, two large crates, a fire pit, and something that looked like a tent. It had been shoddily made out of a few well cleaned coyote skins, some long sticks, and a coil of rope. Caine let Lana go for a second, and made his way over to the tent. He untied the rope that was holding the tepee together, which caused it to fall apart.

"Hey, that was my house!" Lana cried.

"Well, now it's a pile a of buffalo chips," Caine replied.

"Actually, you're standing in my pile of buffalo chips," Lana told him, pointing at his feet.

Caine looked down and saw that she was right. He was standing in a pile of dried buffalo poop.

"Crap," Caine muttered, "Why do you even have those?"

"They make great tinder," Lana informed him.

"Great what?"

"Tinder. You throw it in the fire so it burns brighter."

"I don't plan on doing that any time soon," Caine replied as he walked over to Lana, in hopes of tying her up.

"I guess you don't plan on living much longer, either," Lana replied as she punched Caine in the face. She wasn't going down without a fight.

"I do, just not in this desert," Caine replied, rubbing his right eye, "I'm gonna run your little pal, Quinn, outta town so Albert makes me sheriff again."

"What are you gonna do when Albert doesn't do that?"

"I'll run him outta town too!" Caine declared confidently, "I've always fancied myself a purdy good leader."

Lana was going to reply with a snappy comeback, but she didn't have any time. Caine had sent a large rock flying towards her face. She tried to dodge it, but there was no use. Caine's powers made it impossible to avoid getting hit. It was lights out for Lana.

The next morning, Quinn decided to set off to cliffs as early as possible. The sooner he found Lana, the sooner he could convince her to come back to Perdido Beach. He was riding on the only strong horse left in Perdido Gulch. There were only about five horses that hadn't been eaten. Only two of them weren't too frail to ride, and one of those two now ran wild in the desert because of those good for nothing outlaws, Caine and Penny.

It only took Quinn forty-five or so minutes to get to Lana's cliffs. When he first got there, Quinn didn't see Lana. He did see Patrick running around near the base of the cliff and Caine sleeping on the ground wrapped up in coyote skin blanket. Had Caine and Lana made up at the end of their gunfight? No, the idea of Caine and Lana shaking hands and writing up some sort of peace treaty was laughable.

There was no time for jokes, Lana was missing. Quinn looked up and down until he saw somebody tied up on a shelf of rock in the side of the cliff face.

"Hey! Lana!" Quinn called in his normal speaking voice.

There was no response.

"Lana! You up?" Quinn shouted.

Still nothing.

"LANA!" Quinn screamed.

Lana stirred and shouted, "You're such an idiot!"

"What!? No good morning!?" Quinn teased loudly.

"All of your hollering is gonna wake up Caine!"

"No! All of YOUR hollering is going to wake up Caine!"

"No," Caine replied suavely. Quinn turned around. A very rugged Caine was standing behind him, palms aimed directly at Quinn, "It was actually your shouting. You don't need to worry, though. Your little lady's hollering was a big part of it too."

"WHAT DID HE JUST CALL ME!?" Lana shouted, seething with rage.

"He just called you little lady!" Quinn yelled back, "Why does that get you so mad anyway?"

"ROCK!" Lana warned Quinn.

"Rock?" Quinn asked at the top of his lungs, "That doesn't make any sense!"

Then, it hit him.


	5. Reunions and Revenge

**A/N: This is my first chapter of this fic with multiple perspectives. What does anybody think? Please review like the fabulous Hello 1234 and Evie 192000 already have. Just a little warning, the end of this chapter is pretty creepy.**

Caine as ready to set off for Perdido Beach. He had Quinn and Lana tied up on a cliff, so he wouldn't have to worry about either of them stopping him. He saddled up Quinn's bronco and set off towards Perdido Beach. Caine had thought that he knew the way to Perdido Beach, but about an hour later he realized that he was lost.

He searched for about fifteen minutes until he finally saw another person. He wasn't about to ask them for directions. That would be embarrassing, but where there was a person, there was usually a town. He could find it, get a couple of drinks, and then "casually overhear" some directions Perdido Gulch.

Caine was just planning on riding past the person until he found society, but then he actually saw the girl. It was her. There was no doubt about. She was undeniably Diana.

Caine brought his horse to a stop and hopped off. Instead of the lacy corseted dresses Diana wore when he had first met her, she wore a loose, white cotton dress. Her head was adorned with a crown of red, white, and pink desert flowers. She had a soft tan messenger bag slung over her left shoulder.

"Well, I haven't seen the likes of you since ya hightailed it out of Perdido Gulch," Caine greeted her.

Was she happy to see him? Angry? Sad? Caine didn't have a clue.

"What brings you down to these parts?" Diana wondered, "Did they finally run you out?"

Caine looked down at the ground, not willing to admit to his failure.

"Well, don't go looking for trouble up here," Diana told him, "They've already got a good sheriff. They aint looking for a crooked hearted snake like you."

"What about you?" Caine wondered, "You said they aint, not we aint. What are you looking for?"

"I aint looking for nothing," Diana answered, "But I'm starting to think that I aint gonna be able to shake you."

Caine couldn't help but smirk when she said that. Diana rolled her eyes when he did so, but she smiled back at him afterwards.

"So, are you looking for somewhere to live?" Diana wondered.

"I'm not sure yet," Caine replied, "I'd love to crash wherever you live for a couple of days, though."

"Alright," Diana replied, "I'll show you to my den. It's not the prettiest place on earth because I share it with a family of coyotes. I hope you like fur in your food."

Caine laughed. He had missed her sarcastic remarks.

"Where do you really live?" Caine asked.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out," Diana replied mounting Caine's horse, and riding off.

"Wait!" Caine shouted.

It was hopeless, she was long gone.

"Come back," he added weakly.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Quinn woke up one ledge above Lana with his hands tied behind his back.

"Are you finally up, sheriff?" Lana wondered, using Quinn's title mockingly.

"Yeah," Quinn replied, "Whatcha think Caine's gonna do with us?"

"He's probably gonna leave us up here until we either starve to death or kill ourselves trying to jump off," Lana replied morbidly.

"Somebody might rescue us," Quinn replied, trying to cheer her up.

"Who? Nobody knows we're out here."

"We could scream for help."

"Caine would kill us."

"Who knows, he might not be coming back. That wouldn't be good."

Quinn wasn't so sure about it. He would rather have Caine annoying him and Lana than terrorizing Perdido Gulch.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Unlucky Penny was rotting away in the hoosegow. Her legs were crumpled and useless and her hatred for Caine Soren was festering. Sadly, this wasn't the first time that she had been in a situation like this one. At last this time it didn't hurt to move. Plus, she wasn't in an outhouse.

There were plenty of rocks in the cell to try and fix her legs with, but the more Penny hammered away at the copper, the more bent out of shape they got. So she had turned to other forms of entertainment.

She spent most of her time her time perfecting the technique of dragging herself along by her arms. She could already pull herself along as fast as most folks walked, but that really tuckered her out. Plus, she wanted to go faster. Everyday Unlucky Penny would run laps around her cell.

When she got tired she would pick up one of the chalk nubs one the bottom of her cell. Penny was pretty sure that she had a life sentence, so she decided there was no use in keeping track of the days. Instead she drew pictures depicting the terrible illusions that Penny wanted to cause her worst enemies. She would use one arm to climb the uneven bricks of her cell wall. Then. She would hold on with one hand and draw with the other. The center piece of her demented gallery was a message: "FEAR LIVES HERE." Then there were her pictures. She drew a few for The Healer, some for the mayor, more for the new sheriff, even more for Diana, and the most for Caine.

Why hadn't he come to save her yet? They were supposed to be a team, taking over the own together. He had looked her in the eyes as Quinn dragged her away kicking and screaming. He hadn't even looked the least bit sorry for her. Her, the girl who loved him more than anything else in the world. She ate, slept, and breathed him. It was an obsession, no an addiction. If Penny couldn't make him love her, she would make him pay for it.

Penny's train of thought was derailed by the jangle of her cell door sliding open, just the tiniest crack. The jail guard tossed a plate of food into her cell, but Penny didn't eat it. She used her powers to make him think that he was being crushed into pebbles by a giant hammer. While he was on the floor screaming in pain, Penny scrambled out of her cell into the world.


	6. Two Truths and a Lie

Caine Soren had spent the day following the tracks of his horse, which was currently being used by Diana. Less than an hour later, he found himself at an oasis surrounded by tents. He didn't really know which one was Diana's. He wasn't exactly sure which tent was supposed to be Diana's, so he assumed it was the one with a horse tied to the tall saguaro cactus next to it. He tried to sneak over and get his horse, but it was hard to do that in spurs.

"Why?" Diana wondered, stepping out of her tent.

"Why what?" Caine asked in response.

"Why everything," Diana answered, "Why did you keep up with all of your schemes when you promised me you'd stop? Why did you refuse to tell me that you loved me? Why didn't you come looking for me? Why did they run you out of town? Why didn't they do it sooner? Why did you treat me so bad? Why did I let you treat me so bad? Why did I ever let you into my life? Most importantly, why do I still love you?"

Caine was shocked. Did she just say that she still loved him? No, he must've misheard her. She couldn't really love him after the way he had treated her. Yet, she had still said it. She was still in love with him. Caine leaned in to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

"Slow down, partner. I want answers, not kisses," Diana told Caine.

Caine took a deep breath and looked around. He had to be sure that nobody else was around. He didn't want to seem weak.

"I kept up with all my schemes because they let us live in luxury. If it aint' broke don't fix it. I thought you were just making empty threats when you said you'd leave me," Caine explained, "I didn't tell I loved you because that would imply that I need you. I don't need anyone or anything, and that's final. I didn't come looking for me because I figured you hated me. I wasn't gonna search you out just to be rejected again! Albert ran me outta town because I destroyed about half of it in a battle with that scoundrel, Penny. I don't know why they hadn't already driven me out. It was probably because they were scared of me. I never tried to treat you badly and you put up with it because you're amazing! You're the only person who's ever actually cared about me. I have no idea why you let me into your, life but I'm so glad you did. The reason you still love me is because you're the greatest person I've ever met."

"That last one doesn't make any sense," Diana replied teasingly.

"It does to me," Caine stated, "Can we kiss now?"

"Almost," Diana replied.

"Almost!? What more do I have to do?"

"Just say those three little words."

"I can't. Not if you're just gonna leave me again."

"Baby, if you mean it you won't be able to get rid of me."

"Alright, I'll say it," Caine promised.

There was a moment where it seemed like the entire world was silent.

"I love you," Caine whispered.

Instantly, Diana pulled him in for what could've been the longest, most passionate kiss that had ever taken place in Perdido Gulch. When both of them reluctantly pulled away, Caine was a lightheaded mix of ecstatic and breathless.

Then, without warning, Diana said, "I'm pregnant!"

Caine Soren had faced ruthless outlaws, dangerous mutants, and even his own emotions without so much as flinching; but now he had finally met his match: fatherhood.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

"Hey, Quinn," Lana told her friend, "I think I have an idea how to get out of this."

"How?" the sheriff wondered.

"I could use the spurs on your boots to cut the ropes off my hands," Lana explained, "Then I could untie your ropes and we could climb down."

"That's a darn tooting good idea!" Quinn complimented.

"Why, thank you," Lana replied.

Lana got to work using Quinn's spurs to saw through the ropes around her hands. It took a pretty long time. Lana nicked up her wrists on the spurs, but that wasn't a problem for the Healer. Minor pain was a lot better than starving to death on top of a cliff.

"I'm out," Lana told Quinn, "Turn around, I'll untie you."

"Alright," Quinn agreed.

Lana untied Quinn's wrists and then healed her own.

"So, how are we gonna get down?" he asked.

"We climb, you idiot," Lana responded. Her words were harsh, but her tone was friendly. Well, as friendly as Lana could get.

It only took forty five minutes since Lana had climbed before. Quinn only got down so quickly because he lost his footing and slid down the side of the cliff. When he landed, he couldn't get up and he was pretty sure he'd broken hid arm. When she got to the bottom if the cliff, Lana healed him.

"What you gonna do now?" Lana asked, scratching Patrick's ears. The faithful dog had waited by the side of the cliffs for his master to join him, "It's gonna be dark purdy soon and you don't even have a horse to ride home."

"Well, if you don't mind I was considering sleeping here for the night," Quinn replied, "I wouldn't be sleeping with you, I'd just be borrowing a blanket."

"Aint no skin off my nose," Lana told him.

"Thanks for being so hospitable," Quinn responded, "Speaking of hospitable, it's pretty dangerous out here. You'd probably be safer if you came back to live in Perdido Gulch."

"Albert put you up to this, didn't he?" Lana questioned skeptically.

"No, no, no," Quinn replied nervously, "I just want you to be as happy as possible."

Lana thought for a second.

"I'll consider it," Lana decided.

**A/N: Thanks for all the new reviews, y'all! So glad your liking this story! Now I've got a few questions for you to answer:**

**What has been your favorite scene so far?**

**Are there any characters you want to see westernized that I haven't done yet?**

**As you know, this chapter is called Two Truths and a Lie. Did you catch what all of them were?**


	7. Coming and Going

**A/N: I'm back with more Caina (as requested). Sorry this chapter is so short and took so long to update. I'm super busy with my other two fanfics (Another September and Where the Music Led Them) and The 2013 Gone Awards (there's a forum if you want more information). I promise my next update will be sooner. Thanks for reading!**

Caine had been able to sleep in Diana's bed, but nothing more. Diana had fallen asleep quicker than a jackrabbit, but Caine had too much on his mind. He couldn't raise a kid, he didn't even have good parents to model himself after. If he remembered correctly, Diana didn't either. How were the two of them going to successfully raise a child?

What happened if he got angry and lost control of his powers? Caine didn't think he could live with killing his own baby. Even if he could, Diana would make sure that he didn't. Plus, what did the kid have to live for? Starving to death in a tent? He had to leave. He loved Diana, but he just couldn't do this.

Caine couldn't just leave her, though. He knew how miserable it was to be left for dead. He could write her a letter, or leave a message with somebody who lived by the lake. Maybe Caine could go back to Perdido Gulch, take over, and then have somebody bring her baby clothes or something so she knew that he still cared about her.

Caine took one last look at Diana. She was even beautiful in the darkness. Caine reluctantly and carefully pushed her arms, which she had wrapped around him before they fell asleep, away from him. He sighed sadly as he got out of bed. He started searching for a light and something to write a letter with, but he didn't find anything. Caine was almost out the door when Diana mumbled something in her sleep.

"Caine."

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Midnight. That's what the grandfather clock in the mayor's bedroom read. Albert Hillsborough couldn't sleep. He had no sheriff, and no sheriff meant no order. No order meant nobody working, and nobody working meant no money. Without a thriving economy Perdido Gulch would become the ghost town of all ghost towns. Mayor Hillsborough doubted it would actually happen, but he hoped that one day the wall would come down and he would be able to show the world how he had singlehandedly kept the economy alive and kicking. If Sheriff Gaither didn't get back soon, all his hard work would be gone with last week's table scraps. Albert could not, no, would not have that.

CLUNK!

_What was that noise? _Albert wondered.

"Nothing," He reassured himself, "It's absolutely nothing."

What had gotten into him? Albert never believed in fancy shmancy voodoo magic. It was just some sort of animal, but what if it wasn't? No, Albert couldn't let himself think that way. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to slip into the wild frontier known as dream land, but sleep couldn't come fast enough.

Ca-lunk, ca-lunk, ca-clunk.

The noises were softer now, but they didn't sound like they were going to stop anytime soon. Whatever was making them was inside of Albert's house. Worse than that, it sounded like it was making its way down to Albert's room.

Ca-lunk, ca-lunk, CA-LUNK, CRASH!

Whatever this creature was, it had destroyed one of the expensive vases in Albert's house.

"Ouch!" The creature exclaimed, muttering indistinguishable curses under its breath. Judging by its voice, the creature wasn't a creature at all, but a girl.

"Whoever you are, you best be getting' outta here!" Albert called into the darkness, "I'm the mayor!"

Albert wanted to pretend like he had sounded brave, but he couldn't even fool himself. There was no denying the terror in his voice.

Ca-lunk, ca-lunk, ca-lunk, creeeaak…

The intruder had pushed open Albert's door and was ca-lunking their way through his room. He couldn't see for squat, so he had no idea who she was. Albert hopped out of bed and started meandering his way to over to the ornate dresser up against his wall. He had a candle and some matches over there. He was halfway to his destination when a cold bony hand reached out and grabbed him around the ankle. Albert cried out for help until as a very strong arm pulled him onto the carpet.

**A/N: Alright, y'all, question time:**

**First of all, do you like question time?**

**What was your favorite perspective in this chapter (I think I already know which one most of you are gonna choose)**

**Do you know who the intruder is (I was trying to make it easy to guess)? If you do know, when did you know and what do you think they want with Albert?**

**Finally, did you like the cliffhanger ending?**


	8. Outlaws, Sheriffs, and Gossips, Oh My!

"So, have you made up your mind yet about coming back to town yet?" Quinn asked Lana.

"I aint' sure yet," Lana said, "I'll come back, see what it's like. I'll stay if it strikes my fancy."

"Wonderful! Do you wanna start walking to Perdido Gulch now?" Quinn wondered.

"Sure," Lana agreed.

The pair set off into the desert. Lana knew the desert well and Quinn knew Perdido Gulch even better. Unfortunately, neither of them knew how to get back to Perdido Gulch from the desert. Lana had left the town and never came back, while Quinn had never felt the need to venture deep into the desert. That was where the deadliest outlaws took refuge.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Drake the Snake was leaning up against a tall saguaro cactus. The long, thick snakeskin vest he always wore prevented the needles from stabbing into his back. Drake let his mind idle while he chewed a piece of wheat.

"Look at you," a soft female voice said, "Drake the Snake. Terror of Perdido Gulch. A legend among outlaws. Sitting on his lazy butt while a brand new name in the outlaw game cones around to steal his thunder."

"Who you talking about?" Drake wondered.

"Just little old me," the "new name in the outlaw game" replied.

"You got a name?"

"Most people round these parts just call me Unlucky Penny."

"Well, I'm about to make you a heck of a lot more than unlucky, you little freak!" Drake roared.

The snake rattles that dangled from his vest shook as Drake got to his feet. He snapped his whip arm and started to swing it towards Unlucky Penny. Just as the whip was about to hit her, the annoying little twit ducked.

"Whoa, there!" Penny exclaimed, "I aint looking for a fight with you. I just had a message for ya."

"What is it?" Drake growled.

"I just thought you might wanna know that Perdido Beach is completely defenseless," Penny said, "They don't got no sheriff down in those parts. I ran that over confident cactus brain, Caine Soren, straight outta town. The mayor replaced him with that yellow belly Quinn Gaither, who's out doing who knows what in the desert. The only person who could possibly stop you is the mayor, who's hardly in a sound state of mind right now."

"Well, it sounds like you've been mighty busy."

"Yessiree. You've got a lot of catching up to do Merwin."

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Edilio Escobar had somehow become the sheriff of the rag tag group of friends that lived along Lake Tramonto. He had never volunteered for the job. Edilio had just started doing the things that a sheriff usually did. One of the things Edilio had started to do as a sheriff was to go on patrol in the early hours of the morning. It was usually an eventful process. He would walk around the lake a couple of times, and then go back to the lake once he had been sure that everything was alright. Today, things went a little bit differently. Edilio saw two people wandering through the desert. He recognized them as Quinn Gaither and Lana Arwen Lazar. When Edilio made his way over to them, they looked hungrier and dirtier than the average kids trapped beneath the dome of energy surrounding Perdido Gulch.

"Hola! Me llamo Quinn! Como te llamos?" the new sheriff of Perdido Gulch called.

"You know me, Quinn!" Edilio responded, "And you also know that I can speak English just as well as you do, sheriff."

"I'm just yanking your chain, bandito," Quinn said, "Do you know how to get to Perdido Gulch from here?"

"Perdido Gulch? You must be seriously lost," Edilio said.

"We are!" Lana declared, exasperatedly.

"If you could point us in the right direction that would be mighty kind of you," Quinn said.

"Why the rush to leave?" Edilio asked, "Come down to the lake. Stay awhile! We'd be delighted to have you!"

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Howard's whiskey still was overflowing with drunk teenagers, and that was just how he liked it. Located in the old abandoned schoolhouse, Howard's Whiskey Still was the place to go if you wanted cheap drinks and free gossip. It was not the place to go if you wanted to be tortured by a psychopath with a whip arm. That was why Howard's customers were not happy when ol' Drake the Snake burst through the doors and started using his blasted whip arm to torture the innocent drunks.

The only person who wasn't too drunk to think, much less defend themself, was Taylor, the town gossip. She knew dirt on everybody from the richest townspeople, to the most dastardly outlaws. Well, that's what she said. Honestly, all she did was make up crazy stories that you would have to be drunk to believe.

Taylor needed to bounce out of there and fast. Drake would probably want revenge for the time that she had told the entire town that he fancied Caine Soren. Taylor hadn't possessed any evidence that the story was true, but was reliable by her standards. Drake had done the ex-sheriff's bidding for almost half of the time that Perdido Gulch had been under the bubble. He had also harbored a mysterious grudge against Caine's little lady friend, Diana. That was hardly what most people considered reliable evidence, but it was more evidence than Taylor had the time she had tried to convince everyone that Mayor Hillsborough had 17 toes on his left foot.

Whether her rumor had been true or not, Taylor didn't want to stick around to find out just how angry it had made Drake. She would've left the second he burst through the door, but Taylor hadn't known where to bounce. Now the answer was perfectly clear to her. She would go down to Lake Tramonto and ask Sam Temple, the first and best sheriff that Perdido Gulch had ever had, to help save them. Sure, he had told everybody that he'd never wanted to be sheriff again, but Sam was the only man for the job.

**A/N: Wow, I introduced a lot of characters to the story in the chapter. Drake, Edilio, Taylor, and I even set it up for Sam to come on the next chapter (where I'll be introducing another character who hasn't been mentioned at all yet). Now for question time:**

**I said that I would be introducing another character in the next chapter besides Sam. Who do you think it will be? (Check my profile if you want a hint)**

**Do you have any ideas how Penny drove Albert insane (sorry about that, Albert fans).**

**Do Albert fans even exist? (There has to be somebody who likes him, right?)**

**Wow. I just used a lot of parentheses there. Also, the conclusion of this story is going to be the battle that it's named for, which will be coming very soon. Be sure to stay tuned, y'all.**


	9. The Battle Begins

**A/N: I know that I promised one knew character this chapter, but actually there will be three. **

"Sam! Sam! Sam!" Taylor cried, suddenly appearing right outside of his tent.

"What? What? What?" Sam responded jokingly.

"This aint' funny!" Taylor shouted.

Sam had never seen Taylor looks so serious in his life. Heck, Sam had never seen Taylor look serious, period.

"What's wrong, Taylor?"

"Oh, not much. Drake the Snake is just TERRORIZING THE ENTIRE TOWN!"

"Everything sounds just peachy to me," Diana said sarcastically, as she walked up to Sam and Taylor.

"What you doing here?" Sam wondered.

"I was out getting some fresh air when I saw Taylor. What's she yammering on about?" Diana drawled.

"Perdido Gulch is under attack," Sam said.

"Better go tell Caine. He'd never admit, but that boy is looking left and right for a way to get forgiveness from the folks down in Perdido Gulch. And to think that he was worried about me leaving him."

"Care to elaborate?" Taylor wondered deviously.

"Now isn't the time for your rumors, Taylor!" Sam exclaimed.

"I was just wondering," Taylor said. She batted her eyes in an attempt to look innocent.

"Don't go get Caine," Sam told Diana, who was turning around to go find him.

"Why not?" Diana asked.

"I'm still not sure if we can trust him yet," Sam admitted.

"Makes sense. Who are you gon' take with you?" Diana asked.

"I'm definitely gonna bring Edilio and Dekka. I should probably bring Quinn and Lana too, so they can get back to Perdido Beach," Sam decided.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

She had burnt it. Every last dollar, every last quarter, every last dime, every last nickel, every last penny, and every last golden bullet. She'd burnt it all. At first it had only been an illusion. A horrifyingly realistic illusion. If he closed his eyes Albert could still feel the burning money in his back pocket as Penny chased him out of town with what he thought was a flaming dollar bill.

Ever since the incident, Albert had taken up residence in a cave that was as far away from civilization as he could possibly get. Perdido Gulch had no draw for him anymore. Thieves must have stolen the last of his hard earned money by now. Also, Taylor had to have turned him into the town laughing stock. A big joke.

"Come out with your hands where I can see 'em!" a young girl, probably eleven or twelve, shouted. Albert didn't really know who she was, but the voice sounded sort of familiar.

Albert did as he was told to see Brianna standing outside of his cave with her gun pointed straight at him.

"Aw, dammit!" She exclaimed, "I thought that I finally had him!"

"Who?" Albert asked.

"Drake the Snake! I've been out in the desert trying to hunt that boy down for the last week now."

"He aint the one that you gotta be worried about! The real problem is Unlucky Penny!"

"Her? How can she be a threat? She don't even have legs!"

"She don't need no legs. She gets ya anyway!"

"Yeah, big whoop. Nobody gets The Breeze! Where can I find her?"

"You won't know! You aint never gonna! She don't let nobody know with those blasted hands of hers!"

"Well, where did you last see her?"

"Perdido Gulch. Who knows if she's even there, though? Who knows if you're here? If I'm here? We could all just be part of one big illusion, couldn't we?"

Albert was obviously insane. The Breeze didn't usually take advice from crazies, but this time she had nothing to lose.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

When Quinn finally got back to Perdido Gulch, Drake was rampaging through the streets. When kids saw him walking through the streets they started murmuring in awe. Quinn didn't have time to bask in the glory, though. There was a battle to be won.

"This is my town, Drake Merwin! And I don't take very kindly to no-good scum like you!" Quinn shouted, trying not to sound as terrified as he felt.

"Such big talk from such a pathetic little yellow belly!" Drake taunted.

"I'm not a yellow belly!" Quinn roared, signaling his tiny army to attack.

Dekka used her powers to suspend Drake in midair. Now, it was Quinn's turn to play his part.

"Time to put those skills that you use to offend me to some actual use," Edilio told Quinn. His voice was kind, but his words sounded bitter.

"Look, I'm sorry, Edilio," Quinn apologized, "I know that yesterday I gave you hell about being from Mexico-"

"Honduras," Edilio corrected.

"Yeah, Honduras. Sorry about that. I was just trying to be cool in front of Lana. It was stupid and I'm not going to do it again."

"Thanks. I except your apology and all, but is now really the time?"

Edilio was right. He and Quinn had a very important job to do. Quinn had to distract Drake by yelling insults at him. Edilio would sneak up behind Drake and start cutting him into pieces. Then Sam would finish the job by burning the pieces into ash. The plan would've worked perfectly if Dekka hadn't been distracted by a very familiar face. Brianna, who had been missing for almost a week, came speeding over the horizon. Dekka, who had always been closer with Brianna than anyone else, momentarily dropped Drake because she was so happy to see her again. Most of the kids at the lake had started to believe she was dead, but Brianna had proved them all wrong.

Quinn was as happy as anyone to see Brianna alive, but when Dekka momentarily dropped Drake he took the advantage to knock her out with butt of his gun. Now, Drake was fully able to move. He whirled around, giving Sam, Quinn, and Edilio a nasty lashing with a single flick of his whip hand. Brianna and Lana had started to pelt Drake with bullets, but all that it did to the undead boy was distract him. Sam had begun to set Drake ablaze, but Drake had turned into innocent Brittney, who Sam couldn't bear to hurt.

Lana had taken Drake's transformation as an opportunity to heal her friends. After everybody was healed, Quinn locked Brittney in the hoosegow. Quinn knew that he should've felt like a winner, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the battle was far from over.

**A/N: Well this is officially the second to last chapter. I really hope you've liked it! Please R&R. If you don't know what to say in your review, have no fear…it is question time!**

**What character in this story has been your favorite to read about?**

**Do you have any predictions for the final battle?**


	10. The Battle is Won

**A/N: Even though this is the last chapter of this story, there will be an epilogue coming as soon as possible. Also, if you like listening to music you should listen to "Change" by Taylor Swift, which I've selected as the theme song for this story. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

"Wow, sheriff! I wasn't sure you were gonna get The Healer back, but you did," a little boy exclaimed.

Quinn puffed out his chest and smiled proudly.

"He didn't think you were gonna get me back?" Lana asked, "How did he know that you were gonna bring me to town?"

"I have no idea, Lana," Quinn replied nervously.

"Albert told us he was gonna get you," the child said naively.

"How did Albert know you were bringing me back to this one horse town?" Lana growled.

"He may have asked me to do it," Quinn mumbled.

"You said you wanted me to come back because you fancied me!" Lana exclaimed with a mixture of anger and sadness.

"That wasn't a lie! I do fancy you!" Quinn shouted as Lana ran off down the street.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Lana just wanted to run all the way home. Unfortunately, her home was too far away to run to, so The Healer had to settle on speed walking all the way home. She never wanted to see Quinn Gaither's stupid face ever again. Lana didn't know how she could've been so stupid to let him lie to her like that that. She was so blinded by her own rage that she didn't notice Unlucky Penny, followed by the roughest toughest band of outlaws in the Wild West: The Human Crew.

Unlucky Penny recognized her instantly and ordered The Human Crew to capture her. The only reason that The Human Crew was still listening to her was because she hadn't told them about her powers yet. There was occasionally an advantage to nobody knowing you. Lana tried to put up a good fight, but she was outnumbered at least 25 to 1.

"Well, looky here. It's the new sheriff's girl. She might just make an interesting hostage during the battle," Unlucky Penny sneered.

"Shut the hell up. I aint nobody's girl," Lana said.

"That don't matter. I've got a much better use for you," Penny replied.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

"Hey, sheriff," Dekka said to Quinn, "It looks like we got trouble."

Quinn shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and squinted into the setting sun. A group of thirty or so kids were coming over the horizon. They were a hooting and a hollering and firing their guns to make a big racket. It had to be the Human Crew.

"How are we gonna fight 'em off?" Quinn wondered.

"I dunno," Dekka admitted, "Sam won't wanna burn those kids. They aint done enough to deserve it."

"Can't say that I blame him. I would feel the same way."

Dekka nodded in agreement.

"We can't just sit here and wait for them to overrun the town, though," Quinn continued, "What we gonna do?"

"Fight," Dekka said.

"You hold 'em off," Quinn instructed, "I'll go rally the others."

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Penny had dragged Lana down into the mineshaft. It had been created to look for gold, but the miners had found something else instead. It was a nasty ol green thing that wasn't really thing at all. It was more like a mass of light. Nobody was quite sure exactly what it was, so they all called just called it The Outlaw Maker because it could turn even the purest souls into dangerous outlaws.

Lana knew what it was really called, though. The Gaiaphage. Lana was one of the few people who had actually been up close and personal with it. The Outlaw Maker had taken over her body and forced her to give Drake the Snake his infamous whip arm. Now Lana was sure that Penny planned to make her do the same for her broken legs.

"Oh holy Outlaw Maker!" Penny praised, "Use this humble offering to give me back my legs."

Something was different about the Gaiaphage from when she had first encountered it. Its glowing green light was fainter. The Outlaw Maker looked weak, almost starving. Lana could feel its hunger knowing at her own mind. It wanted to eat something called uranium. Lana didn't even know what that was. Did it even exist? Lana didn't know or care. She had plan. If the Gaiaphage was as weak as it looked, Lana reckoned that she might just be able to kill it.

Lana kicked off one of her cowboy boots and chucked it at the ceiling of the mine shaft. The impact caused the fragile roof to cave in, destroying the faint green light and crushing Unlucky Penny. The debris hadn't left Lana unscathed, but she was The Healer. Broken limbs weren't a problem for her.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

The battle with The Human Crew had been raging wildly for hours. Brianna had been causing more harm than help by randomly firing as she sped through the town, as fast as a twister. Sam, Quinn, and Dekka had all been captured by The Human Crew. To make matters worse, Drake had escaped halfway through the battle. If things didn't turn around soon, Perdido Beach would be done for. Edilio bowed his head and began whispering prayers under his breath in Spanish.

Then, his prayers were answered. It was almost like a giant invisible hand was reaching down and scooping up members of Human Crew. The outlaws were then thrown off into the desert. It wasn't the most humane way to end the battle, but it was definitely a smart one.

When the Human Crew was gone, Caine Soren strutted into the center of town.

"Y'all can start idolizing me now," Caine announced, only half joking.

"Not just yet!" Drake the Snake shouted, running out of an ally.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Drake," Caine said, using his powers to hold Drake up against a wall.

The Breeze zipped over to where Drake was immobilized and started chopping him into bits with a butcher's knife. Sam stood by to burn the pieces. Brianna was excited to finally kill her arch nemesis, but just as she was about to take the first slice Drake disappeared.

"What the hell? Drake just disappeared!" Brianna complained.

"He aint the only thing," Dekka said, pointing at the sky.

Brianna's eyes followed the path created by Dekka's finger to see that the bubble of energy surrounding Perdido Gulch was finally gone.


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: I'd like to thank all of the wonderful people who read this story. If it weren't for all of you, I would've never extended it from a one shot. Thank you all for giving western a chance. If you like my writing style I would love it if you checked out any of my other stories. Special thanks to oHawko for favoriting this story and Jeenfa for following it. I also adore everybody who reviewed it.**

It was over. It was all over. The grown-ups would find out that the barrier had come down in about a week or so, but until then the kids of Perdido Gulch were safe and happy. The Breeze had brought Albert back to town, Diana had brought the rest of the lake kids to town where she and Caine had come to terms about their child, the Human Crew had been locked up securely with Dekka helping Orc stand guard, and Lana had gotten back to town. Albert was still as traumatized as a bull in a butcher's and everyone's powers had disappeared with the Gaiaphage. That wasn't much of problem for Sam, Diana, or Dekka. No matter how overdramatic they were, both Caine and Brianna were going to be just fine without their powers. The only person who was in real trouble was Lana. Without healing powers, she hadn't been able to fix her broken leg and the fractured bone in her arm. Perdido Gulch's doctor, Dahra Baidoo, had been diligently tending to her, but everybody still worried about what would happen to The Healer. There was always somebody coming to check on her, but the only person who never left her side was Quinn.

"Don't you have somewhere better to be?" Lana asked him.

"Probably, but this is where I wanna be," Quinn told her.

"The whole town loves you, why are ya talking to me? You don't need to convince me to stay in Perdido Gulch anymore."

"That's not why I wanted you to come back?"

"Really?" Lana asked doubtfully.

"Ok, it was at first, and I'm sorry bout that. After I got to know you it was more than that. I really do care about you, Lana."

"I can't say that I don't fancy you too, Quinn. I'm not really looking for a serious relationship, but I might consider going steady if you wanted to ask me."

"Lana, do you wanna be my girl?" Quinn asked.

"That don't sound half bad, sheriff," Lana decided.

**The Battle of Perdido Gulch**

Quinn and Lana walked hand and hand into town square. They sat down on the porch in front of town hall, next to Caine and Diana.

"I know it's probably not gonna be very long before the adults find us, but we're gonna need a mayor until then," Quinn said to Caine.

"Really? I think Albert's doing a great job right now. It's probably the pinnacle of his political career," Diana joked.

"All jokes aside, I was thinking that you could step up, Caine," Quinn suggested.

"Really, me?" Caine asked, trying to sound humble but failing.

"Yeah, without you those Human Crew varmints would still be running free," Quinn replied.

"I'd love to, but I've got bigger adventures planned," Caine sighed, casting a sideways glance towards Diana.

"Go ahead, darling," Diana encouraged, "This baby definitely aint coming in the next week or so. Even YOU can't run this town into the ground in a few days, Caine."

Caine grinned from ear to ear.

"I love you, Diana," Caine said.

And for once, there was absolutely no doubt in anybody's mind that he meant it.

**The End**


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